It’s the night for Taste & Tango, Mi Casa Resource Center’s signature fundraiser. The theme is Brazil and over the course of an evening 160 guests will be enjoying tropical drinks, music and a dinner similar to one that might be served at a beachfront spot in Rio de Janeiro.

As she has done since the inaugural Taste & Tango in 2011, Denver’s “Gabby Gourmet,” Pat Miller, enlisted one of Denver’s premiere chefs to plan and prepare the dinner.

Daniel Asher of Root Down and Linger presided in the kitchen this year, working side-by-side with the hotel’s executive chef, Jesper Jonsson, and Jonsson’s predecessor, Jean-Claude Cavalera, who left the Warwick to teach aspiring chefs at the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Boulder.

Four different hors d’oeuvres, including shrimp empanadas and quibi meatballs, were passed, along cachaca-based drinks, during the silent auction social that started things off.

And how’s this for a dinner menu?

Organic arugula salad with picked beets, hominy crisps, chevre crumbles from Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy and spiced cider vinaigrette was followed by a small-plate course: seared Viking Village scallop, with a dollop of habanero aioli, placed on a black quinoa cake and sided with a scoop of plantain hash. The entree was 12-hour churasco-braised short rib, and dessert was caramelized chocolate pot-au-creme topped with passion fruit mousse, smoked-pepper whip and crumbles of acai puffed rice.

Too many calories?

No worries. Manuel Molina and Friends, with Frank Ayala, provided music for dancing.

The evening emceed by Mi Casa board member Ana Cabrera, a former 7News morning anchor who in July became a correspondent for CNN, also included a samba performance by En Fuego Productions and remarks by Mi Casa business program graduate Latasha Bell. What she learned at Mi Casa, Bell said, enabled her to “Go from fearful to fearless” and start her own business, Ashae handmade soaps.

The auction of an autographed Peyton Manning jersey, Daniel Luna painting, trips to Brazil and New Orleans and a dinner for eight, prepared by Daniel Asher, helped Mi Casa meet its goal of raising $50,000.

Joanne Davidson was The Denver Post's society editor for 29 years before retiring in July 2015. She quickly discovered she wasn't ready for the rocking chair, so she dusted off her evening gowns and returned to the paper as a freelance reporter, writing feature stories and covering charitable fundraising events in the metro area.

Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita has been a memory-making institution for decades, filling children with countless sopapillas and dreams of plummeting from the top of a man-made, three-story indoor waterfall while people eat tacos, listen to Mariachi music and watch puppet shows around them.